COVENTRY manager Andy Thorn delivered an honest assessment of his side’s defeat against Burnley after the Sky Blues lost to an injury-time goal.

City were on top for the majority of the first hour and went ahead thanks to Cody McDonald’s first goal for the club in the 59th minute.

But Burnley hit back through Ross Wallace before Thorn’s men had Gael Bigirimana – who turned 18 yesterday – sent off for a lunge on Kieran Trippier with 10 minutes to go.

Then, deep into stoppage time, the visitors nicked the points as City failed to deal with a corner and Charlie Austin was left alone to score from close range with the Sky Blues claiming offside.

Thorn, however, was in no mood to make excuses and told his young guns it was time to become men as his frustration at more points lost in injury time was obvious.

Thorn said: “It was a two-footed tackle so it had to be a sending-off. He’s not that way inclined – there is no malice in him but he also let his man run off him for their first goal so it has not been a good birthday for him.

“As soon as he made the tackle, I thought he was going to be sent off. It was difficult with 10 men because they used the extra player well and it’s difficult standing there when there is not much you can do.

“Both goals were sloppy and we let ourselves down from that point of view. I am not hanging anybody out to dry but when we heap praise on the lads, they have to take the criticism too.

“I thought we were so dominant that I could only see one result then, when we went in front, we backed off and that’s not what we are about.’’

The Sky Blues manager recalled McDonald and Bigirimana to the starting line-up as City looked to build on a solid return of four points from their two previous matches.

The confidence of those two results was clear in Coventry’s first-half display as they took the game to Burnley and passed them off the park.

Skipper Sammy Clingan almost opened the scoring after eight minutes when he robbed Marvin Bartley in midfield but then screwed his shot wide from 20 yards.

The Sky Blues continued to pass with a purpose and they opened up Burnley in the 10th minute to get Cyrus Christie down the right-hand side. His cross was a touch on the long side but Lukas Jutkiewicz managed to reach it and volley goalwards but hit the side-netting.

Jutkiewicz and McDonald seemed to be developing a good understanding up front and the former finished a powerful run with a low effort that Lee Grant saved.

Two minutes later, it was McDonald’s turn to fire a shot from distance but it drifted wide.

Coventry’s domination owed much to the work of Conor Thomas – the young midfielder, who spent a couple of months on loan at Liverpool in the spring, was full of energy and gave Burnley’s defence no peace as they tried to play out from the back.

But for all City’s good play, they could have found themselves a goal down in the 43rd minute as Andre Amougou rose highest to meet Wallace’s corner but headed over the bar when he should have scored.

McDonald ought to have made the visitors rue that miss but Grant saved his shot from close range just before the half-time whistle.

Burnley came close at the start of the second half when Junior Stanislas shot from distance but Joe Murphy made a solid save.

The Sky Blues finally took the lead just before the hour when Chris Hussey curled in a great cross from the left and McDonald got the goal he deserved, diving in to head home.

But Burnley could have been level within four minutes as Austin was free at the back post but scuffed his shot into the ground and that allowed Murphy to tip on to the post before Austin smashed the rebound wide. Coventry looked untroubled until the ball broke to Wallace with 17 minutes to go and he cracked into the roof of the net from inside the box.

Clingan attempted to restore Coventry’s lead when he hit a free-kick from distance but saw it tipped over by Grant before Bigirimana saw red for his strong challenge on Trippier.

That totally turned the tide in Burnley’s favour and just as City appeared to have done enough to hold on, Austin popped up in injury time to score from close range and win it for Burnley.

Clarets boss Eddie Howe said: “I was disappointed in us in the first half-an-hour because we played too deep and Coventry passed the ball around us. They looked a good side and it looked as if it was going to be a difficult afternoon. That’s why I made the change and we then took the game to them.’’